


A Most Fortunate Mistake

by Elthadriel



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-11 07:31:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7882285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elthadriel/pseuds/Elthadriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bull's not entirely sure why he keeps messaging the wrong number who accidentally sent him what are practically nudes, but he's really glad he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Most Fortunate Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> My entry to the Adoribull Minibang. Following up on the same theme as my fic from last year, have a silly modern AU with a sex scene shoved on the end because I can't help myself. 
> 
> The frankly gorgeous art is by [Sarahwhat](http://sarahwhat.tumblr.com/post/149771340325/a-most-fortunate-mistake-by-elthadriel-bulls), go reblog her art on tumblr!
> 
> Beta'd by the wonderful Dee, who is a gift to all of us, and the reason I managed to get this finished at all.

Bull took a very deliberate sip of his coffee after his phone vibrated in his pocket, rattling loudly against his keys.

He weighed up checking it (and risking it being one of the boys calling him back to work to deal with a disaster, cutting his break short) against not checking it (and risking it being a genuine disaster that needed his presence.) He took another mouthful of coffee, deciding he could enjoy the warmth of the day and the pleasant chirping of the birds for a moment. Finally - promising himself that he could go back into the café if his break was being cut short and get himself a cupcake - he pulled out his phone.

He had a text from an unknown number.

“I need advice, what do you think between the red and the black?”

Attached were a series of pictures of a man, from the upper chest down, modelling some rather revealing lace panties. Bull stared for a good few seconds before common decency kicked in and he quickly shut off his phone’s screen, but the photos were already seared into his mind.

The man had gorgeous dark skin, smooth over a nicely muscled body with only the hint of softness around the thighs and tummy. His ass, which featured heavily in the photos, was round and Bull could imagine perfectly how it would jiggle if given a slap. He had the sort of ass Bull wanted to wreak; eat it out until the man couldn’t form sentences and then fuck him until he couldn’t walk.

His phone buzzed again and Bull very cautiously checked his messages.

“I like my arse in the red, but I think black is a better colour on me.”

Before Bull could reply, he got another text.

“There’s also a purple pair I liked, but it’s more of a thong than anything else, and I’m never entirely sure now I feel about them. Should I send pictures?”

Bull’s mouth watered for a second, picturing the man in a deep purple thong. The urge to type a simple yes was strong but he didn’t, instead replying with a text of his own.

“You have the wrong number, Big Guy ].(“ He hit send, before taking a moment to mourn the thong he would never see.

Bull finished his coffee while he waited, and for a while he thought he might not get a response, not that he would blame the poor man. He took the opportunity to go through the messages and clear the images; the man might look like something from one of those nude statues the ‘Vints were so fond of, didn’t mean Bull was comfortable keeping pictures he clearly wasn’t meant to have.

Just before he stood up to head back to work, his phone vibrated.

“Kaffas, I’m very sorry. Please forgot you saw this. I would be very grateful if you would delete those pictures. Please.”

Bull didn’t know why the second please stood out to him, but he could almost feel the panic through the calm tone the man was trying to project.

“Already done.” He hit send, before he realised his might be the hottest man he spoke to this year, and letting that opportunity go without flirting, no matter how doomed to fail the attempt was, would be something he couldn’t forgive himself for. “Personally though, I like the red, you’re right about how good it makes your butt look.”

The unknown number didn’t respond, and Bull shrugged it off, as an attempt worth making.

At four the next morning Bull was woken by his phone chiming. One text from the unknown number. “You were right about the red, my date was rendered speechless.”

It took Bull’s sleep addled brain a second to comprehend what was happening but he let out a soft chuckle the second he did.

“Always happy to help xx.”

\---

Bull started the next conversation three days later while struggling to decide what to wear for his morning meeting. If he could convince the clients that he and his team could design their building better than any of the competition, then it would easily be the biggest contract they had taken on. He really didn’t want to blow this.

And fuck, he was nervous about it.

“Hey, Hot Stuff, I need you to return the favour.” He attached a picture of the shirt and jacket in question, and the three ties he was torn between laying over it.

The response was quick. “Glad to be of service. Wear the solid green, it will add a bit of colour. Also, for my sake, please burn the polka-dot tie, I don’t know what possessed you to buy it.”

Bull looked between the text and the ties. The unknown number was right, not about the polka-dots, he loved that tie, but about the green. He felt some tension leave his shoulders. He was damned good at what he did, but moving up from a small company to a larger one, with bigger and more important clients, wasn’t an easy transition.

“Thanks, Big Guy ].DDD”

“My name’s Dorian.”

Bull grinned, and entered Dorian into his contacts, adding a cheerful butt emoji after his name.

“Good to meet you, Dorian, I’m the Iron Bull ].D”

Dorian didn’t reply, but Bull wasn’t worried, the man seemed unlikely to dash off right after giving Bull his name. Bull dressed himself in the suit, adding the green tie as per Dorian’s suggestion. He made himself another cup of coffee to put into a flask, and made himself a sandwich for lunch, packing it along with a banana and a couple of cereal bars to throw at his boys when one of them inevitably complained about being hungry.

Dorian texted him again. “Went through a tunnel. I expect a picture of you in your suit. It seems only fair considering that you saw my, well, everything.”

“Not quite everything ],)” Bull did was he was requested though, lifting his phone and giving it a broad grin and snapping a couple of pictures, choosing the one that best showed off his horns and the sheer breadth of his shoulder. Maybe big wasn’t Dorian’s type, but there was no way Bull was going to be able to avoid revealing that, so he might as well show off his features to their best.

There was noticeable extended pause before, as Bull climbed into his car, and plugged his phone in to provide him with music, he got another text. “Well, that certainly explains the strange emojis.”

\---

“So how exactly did you accidentally send me your modelling photos?” Bull asked that afternoon, back at the café where he had first got a text from Dorian.

Surprisingly, Dorian replied almost immediately. “If you must know, my friend got a new phone, and emailed me the wrong number.”

“Why didn’t he just text you?”

“He didn’t have reception at the time, and didn’t want to forget.” Bull could almost hear Dorian give an exasperated sigh.

“Lucky me ],D” He fired off quickly.

“I’m glad you see if that way. Also, kindly stop with the inane emojis.”

“].(“

“I’m going back to work.”

Bull laughed aloud, drawing stares from some of the other patrons.

\---

The next day Bull passed a clothing centre with photos of models in various different underwear along the outside. Bull smirked and took pictures of a handful of the models, making sure to cut their heads out of the pictures.

He sent one to Dorian. “Hey, look it’s you!”

He send the second. “Look, it’s you again.”

“Wow, you are just everywhere.”

“Are you famous and didn’t tell me??” Bull typed, sending another, wondering when Dorian would reply.

He had managed to send seven pictures before his phone buzzed. There was a picture of a rather despondent looking one eyed cow staring out of the photo. The screenshot still had Dorian’s google search at the top which read simply “Sad one eyed cow.”

“Aww” Bull typed. “I think he’s kinda cute”

“You are impossible.”

“].D”

\---

“Why is Ferelden weather even legal? And why does everyone always seem so cheerful about it?” Dorian asked.

“Getting a little damp?” Bull looked out of the window. In Dorian’s defence, it was pouring with rain, and it was practically summer.

“Positively drenched. My waterproof eyeliner didn’t stand a chance. Someone needs to invent Ferelden proof eyeliner.”

“You should send some emails, let companies know there is a gap in the market.” Bull sent with one hand, scrolling down on his screen, trying to pretend he was still working.

“Ugh, to make matters worse, I had a meeting with a young blind woman. Wonderful girl, exceptionally clever, and I normally adore our meetings, only she has a guide dog. I’m never going to be able to get the wet dog smell out of my office.”

Bull couldn’t help but laugh. What he knew about Dorian was rather patchy, but he was slowly building an image of a clever man with a great amount of fondness for both the warmth and the indoors. Imagining him trying to deal with animals at all was an entertaining image.

“Such a hard life, Big Guy.”

“Your sarcasm isn’t appreciated. I need to go back to work. Talk later.” Bull stared at Dorian’s reply for a second before grinning. There was a certain expectation that they would keep texting on another, but to see Dorian actively admit it was nice.

Bull had a slight smile on his face for the rest of the day.

\---

“It occurs to me, Iron Bull, that after almost two weeks of texting I have no idea what it is you do. That’s a very nice suit for a man who worries I might forget he has horns unless he reminds me in every text.”

Bull smiled and half a response typed up before someone made a nearly successful swipe for his phone. He jerked it back at the last second, letting out a loud ‘ha’ of victory at Dalish.

“Who you texting who’s so interesting, Chief?” Krem asked leaning across the bar table. In fact, all of the Chargers were looking at him with far too much interest.

“Not like you guys to be so interested in who I’m talking to.” Bull didn’t put his phone away, but he did keep a tight hold of it.

“No,” Stiches said, frowning at him. “They’re right, you have been doing a lot of texting recently.”

Several excuses jumped into his head, though he wasn’t entirely sure why exactly he might want to hide the truth; texting a handsome man wasn’t exactly unusual for him. He made a show of sighing.

“You remember the guy who sent me photos of him in his underwear?”

“Panties Guy? Of course.” Dalish said. Beside her, Skinner frowned.

“You’ve been texting him?” Krem asked. They had all laughed about the story the day it had happened, with little more to say on the matter.

“He’s fucking hot, Krem,” Bull said, trying to place emphasis on the sentence, so they could all understand exactly how hot he was.

“Then sleep with him? It doesn’t explain why you’ve been texting him non-stop,” Rocky said, over the rim of his mug. Beside him, Grimm grunted.

“Krem, weren’t you the one bragging about courting?”

Krem groaned. “If he’s catfishing you, you only have yourself to blame.”

“Your approval means a lot, Krem Puff.” Bull put a hand on Krem’s should, staring at him solemnly until Krem swore and knocked it away. “All right you bastards, next round’s on me.”

The table roared in approval, essentially ending the conversation.

\---

“Hey Big Guy. Not ignoring you, was out with friends and now drunk as fuck. I’ll get back to you tomorrow xxxxxxx” Bull only just remembered he meant to text Dorian before falling into bed. He had decided against texting Dorian again while he was around his boys, and risk opening himself up to another attempt to steal his phone.

“I hope you had fun.”

“You tell me.” Bull flicked his lamp back on and raised his phone to take a picture, beaming at the camera. He had thrown his shirt into the laundry basket when he had got into his room, and he never bothered to sleep in one. He knew he was being more obviously flirty with Dorian than normal, but why pass on the opportunity to show off his chest?

“You mostly look like you got rather drunk.” Dorian shot back quickly.

“Not going to send me one back? I still haven’t seen your face.” Bull turned the lamp back off, but the bright light of his phone still illuminated the room.

“Maybe once you’ve earned it.”

Bull grinned, satisfied, and put his phone down his bedside table to sleep.

\---

Bull’s morning started slowly. Qunari had a high tolerance for alcohol so he wasn’t exactly hung over, but he was getting a little too old to stay up drinking that late and not expect it to effect his mornings.

It was what he deserved for having co-workers who were more than a decade younger than him.

It was almost eleven by the time he got around to texting Dorian, but considering it was a Saturday, he honestly thought it was unlikely that Dorian was even awake yet. Based on when Dorian tended to reply to him he had quickly figured out that if Dorian didn’t have work the next day he slept very late, to match his late nights.

“In answer to your question I’m an architect, I run a pretty small local company called The Chargers.” Bull knew it wasn’t the answer people expected, and honestly he had never really seen himself falling into it either; life had thrown some real curve balls at him.

As expected, Dorian didn’t reply for another couple of hours while Bull was catching up on some TV shows he had missed over the week. “You work in Skyhold?”

It had never really occurred to Bull that he and Dorian might actually be living relatively close to each other. He wondered if this changed anything. “Yeah, you heard of us?”

“I have actually. I work at the university and I do believe you designed the new library that is currently being built.”

“Yeah! That was us! ].D Small world right!”

Dorian was typing for a long time before Bull actually got another text from him. “It would appear so.”

\---

Their texting didn’t appear to change based on the realisation that they were working within ten miles of each other, but Bull couldn’t quite shake the thought. He liked Dorian, and fuck if he wasn’t attractive. Flirting had been fun when it had just been texting, but should he ask to meet up? Ask Dorian on a date?

He held out almost a week, only allowing himself to broach the subject the following Friday.

“Hey, you never told me what happened with the guy you went on that date with. The guy you rendered speechless with your red panties.” Bull felt a little guilty after hitting send, though he couldn’t quite pin down why.

“Oh, we had fun, but we never intended it to go any further than that.”

“Hope he was at least as good looking as you. You deserve the best x” Bull was alone, so he didn’t bother hiding his relief. He had barely known Dorian two months, he shouldn’t care if the guy was seeing someone beyond a little disappointment that there was no chance of getting that ass in his bed.

“I’m offended that you believe that’s even possible.”

“Yeah, don’t think the world could handle another ass as perfect as yours. ],)”

Bull had to wait almost half an hour before he got a reply. It was worth the wait. There was no message, only a picture of Dorian’s ass shown off spectacularly in a pair of very tight jeans. There was a hint of white lace above the waist.

Well, that was a pretty hard hint to ignore.

\---

“I lied earlier.”

It was an odd text to wake up to, and Bull stared at it before responding. They had all said things at four in the morning that they would have rather no one brought up the next day.

“About what, Big Guy?”

Bull wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get a response until early afternoon. “Kaffas. I was drunk. Forget about it.”

“You sure. If you want to talk about anything, I’m here.” Bull paused the cooking show he was watching, fully expecting a conversation that would take up his full attention.

“Do you have to be so understanding?” Dorian texted back almost immediately.

“Fraid so.” Bull could imagine Dorian letting out a long sigh, and reminded him again that he had no idea what Dorian looked like, or what he sounded like.

“I lied about the man I went out with the day we met. I wanted to see him again, but apparently, he had had his fill of me.”

“Ah, shit. Sorry, Dorian. It happens to the best of us, and considering how great those panties looked on you, I think it says more about his bad taste than yours.” Bull wished they were having the conversation in person, Dorian seemed like he could use a hug, if he’d accept one.

“It seems to happen to me a lot. Believe it or not, I think you are the longest I’ve spoken to a man after showing him what I have to offer, as it were.”

Bull frowned. Dorian had given himself away as a ‘Vint with the first word he had said to Bull knowing it wasn’t his friend. He was around Krem enough to recognise Tevinter curses when he saw them. While they had been talking a while, they had mostly kept it light, and Bull wondered how Dorian would feel at his insight.

He took the risk.

“You grew up in Tevinter?”

“Is it that obvious?” Bull wondered if Dorian was being haughty or just resigned.

“Got an LGBT friend from Tevinter. It didn’t sound all that fun, and not great for long term relationships.”

“Not really. I’m not much better at them down here though. People see me as an exotic fuck, but aren’t interested in much more.”

“I feel you, buddy.”

There was another pause before Dorian replied.

“I suppose you would; I never really thought about it. I suppose I just couldn’t imagine you having trouble finding willing partners. I only realise now their intentions might not be entirely good.”

“Aren’t you the charmer? ],D”

“You knew exactly what you were doing with those pictures, please don’t pretend you didn’t.” Dorian sent back. He started typing the second Bull’s text arrived, and it made Bull smile to know they were both sitting looking at their phones, waiting for replies.

“Like your photos didn’t show off your best qualities.”

“Hardly.” Dorian sent the one word text and then started typing again. “These are my best qualities.”

Bull waited, and fuck if it wasn’t worth the wait.

Bull opened the picture to find a man perhaps in his late twenties staring up at the camera through his eyelashes. Bull swallowed; Dorian was gorgeous. He had a jawline lesser man would weep over, and the curl of his lips was mouth was both mocking and inviting. Bull wanted to kiss him, find out how that moustache would feel, drag his own stubble over the smooth skin of Dorian’s cheek.

It took him a minute of staring to realise he needed to text back.

“Wow, you really weren’t kidding. Damn.”

“I aim to please.”

\---

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Please don’t contact me again.”

Bull stared at the message in total shock. It had only been three days since Dorian had sent Bull the selfie, and if anything their conversations had grown more flirtatious. Bull quickly scrolled up the conversation, trying to see where he might have miss-stepped.

Nothing.

Nothing out of the ordinary for them. Their last conversation had been about food from the north they missed and Dorian had seemed cheerful enough when the conversation had ended.

Bull desperately wanted to text back, to ask what had happened, but he couldn’t bring himself to ignore Dorian’s request not to contact him again. He turned off his phone, and shoved it into his pocket. He felt a little like he had been punched.

\---

Krem let him mope for six days before confronting him about it.

Krem was too fucking smart about it, too. Arranged a meeting, as if it was a professional concern, so Bull couldn’t claim he was busy. The little shit was too clever for his own good.

“All right, what’s crawled up your arse and died?” Krem demanded, sitting in the chair across Bull’s desk.

“What’s that, Krem?” Bull asked.

“Something has got you in a mood. We’ve all noticed it.”

“So this isn’t about the Valmont project?” Bull sighed, pushing all the folders on the contract he had gathered for the meeting to the side.

“No.” Krem looked way too fucking smug.

“It’s nothing, Krem, don’t worry about it.” It wasn’t like there wasn’t anything Krem could do. He’d just have to be miserable for a little while. If he wasn’t what Dorian needed, there was nothing to be done.

“Come on, Chief, I’m not stupid.”

“Dorian, the wrong number guy, told me he didn’t want to talk anymore. Guess I’m a little disappointed.”

Krem looked surprised, which was a little satisfying; Bull liked to keep people guessing. “He tell you why?”

“Nope.” He popped the ‘p’ as if that would somehow hide how frustrated he was with the whole situation. He didn’t have to work to keep all his emotions hidden around Krem so he allowed himself a sigh.

“Shit. You liked this guy?” It wasn’t the first time Bull had had something a little more serious than a one night stand, but it was a rare enough occurrence to be shock, and that was reflected in Krem’s face - kid always did wear his heart on his sleeve.

“You should have seen him in those panties, Krem,” Bull said, because it was easier to explain that attraction than anything else.

“You have a new partner on your lap every week at the pub, and you get attached to the fucking Vint you’ve never met.” Krem let out a long sigh. “I’m not even surprised.”

“Any ideas?” Bull asked.

“Nah, unless you want to watch movies and eat ice-cream. Think Mr. Pretty Panties will just have to be the one that got away.”

“Looks that way.”

“Well…” Krem’s eyes flickered to the side like he had something sappy to say, but he appeared to get himself under control. “Drinks with the boys tonight?”

“Fuck yeah.”

\---

It was a little easier to forget that apparently he had done something so awful that made Dorian never want to talk to him again when he was pleasantly drunk and singing with the chargers.

Krem had had the right idea with going out tonight, even if they had work the next morning.

He only thought to text Dorian with an update on the evening twice, and each time he remember before he had even started typing the message.

\---

After three weeks of no contact Bull made the terrible mistake of looking up Dorian on the university faculty page. They didn’t have a good picture of Dorian, he looked tired, even if his hair and make-up were as perfect as in every selfie Bull had received. His skin was a couple of shades darker; it didn’t take a genius to figure out he had recently arrived from Tevinter, and was still bearing its effects, both the weather and the stress.

He decided he was moping, and closed the page.

It wasn’t as if he had lost a huge chunk of his life in Dorian’s absence, but his days had certainly been more enjoyable with Dorian’s wit as a companion.

\---

Bull’s phone vibrated on the bedside table just as he walked back into the room, a towel around his waist, still damp from the shower. Dalish had been pestering him all evening, giving him a scene by scene update of Skinner playing her newest video game. It might have been more annoying except Skinner was infamously aggressive gamer, and hearing about what she was yelling at the screen was always funny. He was going to dare Dalish to try steal the can of Pringles he knew would be sitting just to Skinner’s side.

Assuming she survived, it would make a great story. He pulled on a pair of sweats before checking his phone.

He had four snaps from Dalish, and one text from Dorian. He was motionless for a second, staring down at Dorian’s name, sure that he had somehow imagined it. It must have been a wrong number again, Dorian must have meant to message someone else. He refused to get his hopes up. He swiped at the notification and typed in his passcode. It seemed to take an age for his phone to load.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. Please talk to me again. I’m so sorry.”

Since parting ways with the Qun, Bull had tried to assume the best in people, something that had always been in his nature, but didn’t line up well with his designated role, but for a second he couldn’t help but wonder if this was a game to Dorian. Maybe he liked toying with people’s emotions, see how much shit he could get away with.

Bull sighed. He couldn’t align that with everything he already knew about Dorian.

He tapped call on his phone and lifted it to his ear.

Dorian answered on the second ring but didn’t say anything. Bull could hear his slightly uneven breathing.

Dorian had been crying.

“Hey, Dorian.”

“Hello.” Bull thought he had a pretty good read on Dorian, but hearing his voice he felt like he learned a thousand knew things. Dorian’s voice was steady, controlled, used to hiding that he was upset.

“Wasn’t sure I’d ever hear from you again.”

Dorian laughed, and this time his mask slipped a little, and Bull head a little hysteria sneaking in around the edges.

“Want to share the joke?” Bull asked. It was so strange to be speaking in person.

“You sound exactly like I thought you would,” Dorian said, sounding fond.

“Yeah, guess you do, too.”

They were both silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Dorian repeated.

“You wanna explain what happened there, Big Guy?”

Dorian sighed and Bull heard rustling through the phone.

“My friend, Felix, he died the morning before I asked you to stop talking to me.” Bull didn’t know what he had been expecting, but that certainly wasn’t it. Dorian continued without prompting. “He was the person I meant to send those pictures to. It was stupid, but I was angry with myself for every time I chose to message you instead of him, and I decided that was your fault too. It was unworthy of me to place any of the blame on you, and to cut you off without an explanation. I’m sorry, you deserved better than that.”

“That’s quite the apology.”

Dorian laughed humourlessly. “Shockingly, I find I have to apologise a lot; my mouth gets ahead of me.”

“Are you doing okay?” Bull asked.

“Not even a little.”

The line was silent again, but this time it was Bull who broke the silence. “Would you like to get something to eat?”

“Are you sure you can handle hearing my voice and meeting me in person all in the same day?” Dorian almost managed to hide the nerves in his voice.

“Hey, if that’s your way of saying I’m more than you can handle, that’s fine,” Bull drawled, grinning when he heard Dorian huff indignantly.

“Hardly.”

“Where are you?”

“At the university.”

Bull glanced over at the clock to confirm what he was already sure of. “Kinda late for you to be working.”

“It’s not like I had any reason to go home,” Dorian said in a small voice.

Bull remembered Dorian’s comment about how he hadn’t talked to a man this long before, and realised all at once how lonely Dorian likely was, so far from home.

“You know the Antivan place off South Street?” He said instead.

“Yes.”

“I’ll meet you there in half an hour.”

“All right. Yes.” It sounded more like Dorian trying to give himself a small pep talk than an acknowledgement.

Bull hated that he was going to have to hang up the phone. “I’ll see you soon.”

He stared at his phone for a second after the call ended before he rushed to find a shirt.

\---

Bull got a text while he was driving over, hands gripping the wheel tightly.

Fuck, he was nervous. The Iron Bull was nervous about meeting a potential romantic partner – whoever would have guessed? Krem, probably, if he was being totally honest.

He parked just up the street from the restaurant and checked his phone.

“I’m outside.” Dorian’s text read.

“Get us a table, I’ll be there in two minutes,” Bull fired back, climbing from the car.

It wasn’t particularly busy when Bull arrived. It was a nice place and did well for itself, but it was also the middle of the week and a little late for a traditional dinner. He scanned the place, spotting Dorian, nestled in the far corner, eyes on his phone.

He waved off the hostess, indicating Dorian.

Dorian looked pretty much exactly like the pictures he had sent Bull, only a little less put together. There was little redness around his eyes and he as missing the eyeliner that had been present in every picture Bull had seen, including the one on the university website. Bull wondered if he didn’t normally wear it to work, or if it had been smudged from crying and been washed off.

Dorian’s thumb tapped restlessly against the side of his phone. The floor creaked under Bull’s feet and Dorian jerked around, half rising, and then freezing in place, awkwardly not in or out of his chair.

“Bull?”

“Hey, Dorian, good to finally meet you.” Bull couldn’t stop himself from grinning. It was slightly surreal to have Dorian in front of him, and he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that if he touched Dorian he’d disappear. Dorian hesitated another moment before making it to his feet. He offered Bull a hand and a cautious smile.

“A handshake?” Bull asked and laughed. “Come ‘ere.”

Dorian’s smile froze for a second, and his hand curled into a loose fist. Bull pulled Dorian into a hug. Dorian was tense for a long moment and Bull almost let go, apology already half formed before Dorian relaxed and brought his arms up to grip Bull tightly. His face was pressed against Bull’s chest.

They stood like that for longer than they probably should have, but Dorian was there and solid, and fuck he had melted into that hug like a man starved of affection. Bull never wanted to let him ago.

Dorian’s arms slackened around Bull and he released him. Dorian craned his neck to look up at Bull. His tongue darted out to wet his lips.

“You’re ah… Bigger than I expected.” Dorian said, slipping back into his seat with far more grace than he had left it with. Bull chuckled and dropped into the seat opposite.

“Yeah, how big did you think I was going to be?”

“Big, but not, well, this.” Dorian waved his hand in Bull’s direction.

“I get that a lot.”

A waitress appeared and took Dorian’s order of another glass of water and dashed off to get Bull a lemonade.

“So, how you doing, Dorian?” Bull asked, as she left.

Dorian sighed and look down at his hands. “Badly, I suppose.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“What’s there to say? My friend is dead, I miss him terribly, and I don’t exactly have abundance of friends falling over themselves to support me.”

“You’ve got me.” Bull pointed out.

“Yes, and look what I did with that opportunity,” Dorian said, bitterness colouring his tone.

“I’m here now.”

Dorian sighed again. “Yes, you are. I’m… very grateful for that.”

“What are friends for, if not this?” Bull asked and Dorian shrugged. “Want to tell me about him?”

There was another pause as the waitress arrived with their drinks and took their order for food.

“He was a maths genius. He used to run a site where he would help people with their maths problems, all the way from young primary school kids up to university students. He just did it because he loved it.” Dorian was smiling as he talked.

“Sounds like a kind man.”

Dorian snorted. “Oh certainly, but he was also just a nerd, his own work wasn’t enough, he had to be doing other people’s maths, too.”

“So I’m picturing a little guy with glasses that slip down his nose sitting surrounded by graph paper, am I right?” Bull went for the most stereotypical image he could think of, correctly guessing he could drag a laugh out of Dorian.

“Hardly. He was well over six foot, with huge shoulders. He looked so silly hunched over the tiny desks in the university halls.” Dorian in person was amazing. He was so animated, hands moving as he spoke, face wonderfully expressive. Bull couldn’t bring himself to look away.

“So, you corrupted the boy genius?”

Dorian made an indignant huffing sound. “Why is it everyone thinks that? I’ll have you know he got himself into plenty of trouble all by himself. He just had the uncanny ability to never be the one caught red handed.”

“I suppose that was you then?”

“Every time,” Dorian said drily.

Bull laughed, and didn’t miss the way Dorian’s eyes brightened a little at the sound.

The waitress reappeared, placing a spicy pasta dish in front of Dorian and a cheesy one before Bull. There was a short silence as they both tucked into their food.

“You should try this,” Dorian said, nudging his plate towards Bull. “Say what you will about the Antivans, their food is wonderful.”

Bull obediently got some of Dorian’s dinner onto his fork. He made the appropriate appreciative sounds as he ate it.

“Damn, this is good.”

Dorian smiled and pulled his plate back towards him, having another mouthful.

“Is yours living up to expectations?”

Bull had his fork halfway up to his mouth, but paused. He flipped the fork around and offered the end out to Dorian. “You tell me.”

Dorian eyed the offered food, his gaze flicking to Bull and back again before he leant forward. Pasta was hardly the sexiest food a man could eat, but Dorian made a damned impressive effort. His mouth closed around the fork, far higher up than was necessary, and dragged back slowly. His eyes fell shut and he made a contented hum that was almost a moan.

In a second it was over, and Dorian had his own fork back in his hand and was stabbing his own food, Bull left holding the fork across the table, blinking like an idiot.

“That is good,” Dorian said, like he hadn’t almost made Bull drag him over the table and fuck him right there and then.

Dorian’s eyes flicked up and he met Bull’s. Dorian’s lip curled just a little.

Clearly he did know what he was doing, then. Bull grinned, Dorian was just as fun as he was pretty.

Dorian went back to eating, still smiling just a little.

“He must have been a good friend if you sent him underwear shots,” Bull said, allowing the tension between them to simmer.

Dorian snorted. “He certainly was, but he was also living vicariously through me on that one. He never had much interesting in dating himself, and made up for that by being very interested in my dating life. Tevinter was one giant disappointment for him in that regard, so myself coming in the South was the perfect opportunity for him to force me to try and be happy.”

“And your revenge was sending him pictures of your arse?” Bull asked.

“Precisely.” Dorian paused, but he was staring down at his pasta like it might reveal to him the secrets of the universe, so Bull remained quiet. He was rewarded when Dorian spoke again. “He would have been thrilled about this though. I mentioned you to him, once or twice, and he was pestering me constantly to meet with you in person and ‘not let another potential romantic partner go to waste because you have the emotional maturity of a new-born nug.’ He had a way with metaphors as you can see.” Dorian finished drily.

“Potential romantic partner, am I?” Bull gave a lopsided grin.

“Don’t get cocky, Felix thought any man who stood within thirty feet of me was my potential soulmate.” But, Dorian was matching Bull’s smile, and his next bite of food involved a similar, unnecessary moan, and intense contact with the fork as before.

Bull really hoped this was heading where he wanted it to.

\---

“Thank you for last night. I don’t think I’ve smiled since I heard about Felix.”

“That’s a shame, you have a really pretty smile. ],)”

“I do, don’t I?” Bull didn’t get a chance to type a reply before Dorian sent him another text. “We should do that again, under less unfortunate circumstances.”

Bull smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

\---

“Fucking hell, chief, why are you making that face?” Krem dropped into the chair opposite Bull’s desk like he own the damned thing.

“What face?” Bull asked, now the perfect picture of innocence.

“The one you make when you’re about to do something I won’t like.”

Bull straightened some of the loose pieces of paper on his desk; Krem was right, they really should go entirely digital.

“I was thinking,” Bull said, watching Krem carefully, “That I might asked Dorian if he wanted to join us for drinks tonight.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” Bull parroted back.

“That’s… Not nearly as bad as I expected. I was wondering how long it would take after your little meet up.” Krem looked a little disappointed. He would deny it until he was dead in the ground, but Krem loved the messes Bull got them into just as much as he did.

“Oh yeah?” Bull beamed.

“Yeah, guess I’m curious about the guy who’s held your attention so long.” Krem paused, before hurriedly adding, “Just don’t expect us to be nice to him just because he’s your sort-of boyfriend.”

Bull laughed, smiling fondly. He would have ruffled Krem’s hair if he was close enough.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Krem Pie. Now get your scrawny ass back to work.” Krem gave him a mock salute as he left.

Bull pretended to work for ten minutes before he pulled out his phone.

“Hey, Dorian, me and my friends from work are grabbing drinks later, join us? X”

He didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Come on, Dori, they think I made you up ].(“

“I am rather unbelievable.” Bull had to force images of Dorian on his back, legs over Bull’s shoulders while Bull told him exactly how unbelievable he was, out of his head. It was quite the effort.

“Does that mean you’ll come, prove to those assholes I’m not lying?”

“Maybe just for one drink.”

“I can’t wait, big guy x”

\---

“Thank you for tonight, Bull. I had a good time.”

“Does that mean you managed to make it home safe?”

“Yes, you over-protective buffoon.”

Bull grinned, closing his book and putting it on his bedside table. He had only read a couple of pages, but hadn’t wanted to go to bed until he get the promised text from Dorian that he was home safe.

“You liked the boys?” He sent back. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if Dorian hadn’t, but while there had been a couple of false starts, they all seemed to be getting along by the time they all left, long after Dorian’s one drink had turned into a few more.

“They certainly are something. I’m not sure what I expected from your friends, but now I’ve met them I can’t imagine anything else.”

That wasn’t the first time Bull had heard that.

“This mean you’ll join us for drinks again? ].D”

“You might be able to convince me.”

It was foolish to want to phone someone Bull had seen in person less than an hour before. He ignored the impulse.

“The boys would certainly like it, I think you were growing on them by the end.”

Dorian’s reply came almost immediately. “Maker I hope not, I saw how they treat their friends and I have no desire to be part of it.”

Bull almost just sent a laughing emoji, followed by a good night, but what the hell, taking risks had worked for him before.

“Well, you’re already my friend, so it might be a little late for that one.”

“Is that what we are? Friends?” Dorian asked and Bull could see what question he was actually asking.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind it if we tried being something a little more than that.” Bull’s heart was beating faster, in a way it hadn’t over a person since he was a much younger man. It was nice.

“I’ll think about that. Good night, Bull.”

“Night, Dorian.”

Bull didn’t sleep as well as he might have liked, constantly distracted by what might come of Dorian’s thinking.

\---

There was no text waiting for Bull the next day, and though he sent Dorian a ‘good morning’ he got nothing in return.

He showered, ate, and dressed himself, checking his phone regularly, but Dorian seemed determined to remain silent for now. With nothing to do but wait and see what Dorian had to say, Bull went to work.

His phone quickly moved from his pocket to the table once he was set up at his desk, not wanting to miss a text. Not long after he turned it off silent too.

At eleven thirty-six his phone pinged, almost sending Bull to the ground as he jumped in surprise. He scrambled for the phone.

“Get £5 extra Payback just got using your order link for the first time. Offer ends Friday.” It was followed by a link to his network provider’s website.

With a muttered curse he tossed his phone back onto the desk and tried to get back to work. His phone pinged again less than ten minutes later and his dive for it was no less frantic.

It was from Dorian.

There was nothing in the text but an address.

Bull scanned it, mentally placing it on a map of the city. It was near the university campus, a nice block of flats that would be affordable on a professor’s salary.

“That your address?” He shot back.

“;)”

Bull blinked at the message, wondering for a second if someone else had stolen Dorian’s phone; Dorian never used emojis.

His phone lit up again in his hands, showing another message from Dorian. This one was a photo.

The angle was such that Bull could see a couple of inches of thigh and a hint of Dorian’s hip bone, but Dorian’s crotch was the centre of the framing. Dorian was wearing a pair of pale pink panties, with lace around the edges and a dainty bow at the front. His hand was stuffed down the front of them, gripping what looked to be a very hard cock. There was a wet stain on front of the panties.

It seemed like Dorian had done his thinking.

Bull had his computer turning off and his jacket in his hands in moments. He rushed out of his office and past a bewildered Krem.

“Something came up, I’ll be back in tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder.

He had another picture up the time he got into the car, a close up of Dorian grabbing and twisting his own nipple. His skin had a slight shine to it, like he was covered in a very fine layer of sweat.

Bull ran two red lights in his rush to get there.

\---

The front door of Dorian’s block of flats was wedged open with a brick, and Bull, assuming it was for his benefit, kicked it back outside, letting the door lock shut behind him. Dorian was only three floors up, and Bull hurried into the stair well, taking the steps three at a time.

He paused in front of Dorian’s door, slightly out of breath before he raised his hand. He knocked and waited.

Nothing.

He knocked again and then tested the door. It wasn’t locked. Bull stepped into the flat, closing the door behind him and taking off the latch.

The living room was in a total state of disarray, books stacked on all surfaces, paper scattered across the place, and even a lone sock peeking out from under the couch. There were photos and paintings up on the walls, some of Tevinter, some of Dorian with a man about his age with the same northern look to him, but there were also some leaning against the walls, still not put up.

The kitchen was separated from the rest of the room by a counter, and was comparatively clean. There were two doors leading to other rooms.

Dorian moaned loudly from behind one of the doors, and Bull lost all interest in the rest of the flat.

“You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked, anyone might wonder in.” Bull pushed open the door and lounged in the doorway, trying to pretend the sight before him wasn’t making his mouth water.

Dorian had both hands in his underwear now, hips making small rocking movements, riding the fingers he had pressed inside himself, while he tugged at his cock. His hair was sticking to his forehead and his nipples looked a little red, like he had been tugging and twisting them roughly.

He arched, crying out again, falling back to the bed with the thump.

“Like a man I sent unrequested nudes to? Who I’ve only met in person twice before? Someone like that?”

“Sure. Something like that."

Dorian cursed, pulling his hands from his underwear. "Normally I would love to banter with you, but I've actually been keeping myself on the edge for a while now and you took ages to get here. So if you would fuck me I'd be very grateful."

"Sure thing, professor." Bull kicked off his shoes but nothing else, covering the floor to the bed in two large steps and grabbing Dorian under his knees. He hauled and with a squeak of surprise from Dorian, his hips were at the edge of the bed.

Bull dragged Dorians panties down to his knees, noting the large curve of Dorians arse he had to pull them over. He sank down to his knees and was kind enough not to tease Dorian any more than he had apparently teased himself.

Dorian made the most delicious sounds as Bull swallowed him down, and it was barely a moment before Bull felt the muscles in Dorian’s legs tighten and he was spilling down Bull’s throat.

Dorian shuddered, hands fisting the sheets, chest heaving.

“Fuck, you were eager. How long were you groping yourself before you texted me?” Bull asked, before dropping his head to lap at Dorian’s sensitive cock, enjoying the way it made him squirm.

Dorian swore and rolled over, as if that would protect him from Bull’s tongue. “If you must know,” he managed, trying hard to sound dignified even between his panting, “I wasn’t planning on bringing you into things when I started. Only I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about you, and well, I thought we might as well give this whole relationship thing a shot if you were going to be invading my fantasies an- Kaffas!”

Dorian yelled as Bull buried his face between Dorian’s checks and licked across his hole. He was already stretched, and there was strawberry flavoured lube coating the area.

“You’re tasting very fruity down here,” Bull said, close enough that he would bet Dorian could feel his breath on his arse.

“It was on sale,” Dorian said, a little sullen.

Bull hummed and lapped at him again and then pressing his tongue inside, just for a moment before pulling back.

“I’m thinking,” Bull said, resting his chin on Dorian’s arse, “that if you’re up for another round, I would love to fuck you.”

“Maker,” Dorian breathed. “Yes please.”

“Oh, very polite, Professor.”

“Please don’t call me that.” Dorian sounded pained.

Bull laughed and gave Dorian’s hole an apologetic lick.

“So how do you like it? If you aren’t into roleplay you should tell me what you like. I want to make you feel as good as you deserve.”

“Sex hardly needs a discussion,” Dorian said, voice pulling off haughty, but Bull could see his face and the slight embarrassed flush across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

“Come on, Dorian, the pictures you sent earlier were not from a shy man. Tell me all your filthy secrets.”

“Hard,” Dorian admitted at last. “Turn me over and fuck me into the mattress. I want to feel you for days.”

Bull grinned.

"I'm going to make you feel good" Bull promised. "Fuck, Dorian, when you sent me those pictures showing how much you wanted me, you have no idea what that did to me."

Dorian smirked, regathering his composure. "I had an idea it might."

Bull considered him. "How do you feel about mild name calling?"

Dorian looked surprised by the question. "In bed?"

"Yeah."

"I don't like anything particularly harsh, but mild can work."

"In that case you're a fucking brat."

Dorian laughed, throwing his head back, grinning too wildly, like he had forgotten he was supposed to focus on looking perfect at all times. Bull thought he had never looked better.

Bull pulled off his coat and shirt, even taking the time to undo each button while a hungry eyed Dorian watched him. His trousers and underwear followed in a more timely fashion.

"So," Bull did a silly little spin causing Dorian to snort, "like what you see as much as I do?"

"You'll certainly do," Dorian purred, now lounging on the bed like a king - a very naked and slowly hardening king.

Bull climbed onto the bed crawling over Dorian until he was right above him. He dropped down and kissed Dorian softly. Dorian's hands came up to touch Bull's face, hesitantly, like he wasn't sure has allowed to.

"I don't recall this being part of ‘fuck me so hard I can't walk right,’" Dorian mumbled into the kiss.

"It's not," Bull said, “this part is for me."

"Then I suppose I can indulge you." He pulled Bull back down to kiss him again.

They kissed easily, building from soft and exploring to biting, Dorian groaning into Bull's mouth, hands desperately clutching at Bull’s neck. It continued until Dorian arched up and their nakedness became too much to ignore.

Dorian squeaked in surprise as he was tossed over onto his front. Bull laughed and Dorian tried to kick him in response, missing by several inches. To distract him, Bull grabbed a handful of Dorian’s arse with each hand.

“Fuck, Dorian. Ever since you sent me those pictures I’ve been thinking about how fucking gorgeous your ass is. Then you go and show me your face and you might be the only man in Thedas who has a prettier face than this ass.”

Dorian laughed. “I’m glad you appreciate it.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Bull squeezed and pulled Dorian apart, taking in his hole.

It was so easy to push two fingers into Dorian, a testament to how long Dorian had been teasing himself before Bull arrived. Dorian squirmed under him, hips pushing back against Bull.

“Very eager for a man who just came,” Bull said, chuckling, stretching so he could reach and twist one of Dorian’s nipple, eating up the gasp it pulled from Dorian.

“Fasta vass, I send you nudes and it’s not enough to make you just fuck me into the bed?” Dorian was getting hard again under Bull’s attention and was fucking himself on Bull’s fingers with impressive commitment. “Please, hurry up.”

“Asking nicely, just want I wanted to hear.”

Dorian cursed again.

Dorian’s arse was already covered in lube, but Bull poured some more onto his cock before pushing into Dorian, in one sharp movement, shoving Dorian up towards the headboard. Bull remembered what Dorian had said about wanting it hard. Dorian cried out, scrambling to regain a position where he could continue pushing back against Bull, but one heavy hand pushing on his shoulders from Bull put an end to that.

“Maker, it’s huge,” Dorian mumbled into the pillow, and Bull wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear.

“Doing okay down there?”

“Fuck yes,” Dorian managed, louder this time. “Keep moving.”

Bull did as he was asked. He would have liked more foreplay to be perfectly honest, but he supposed the photos counted. He pictured Dorian in bed touching himself and thinking of Bull, and found himself turned him on in all kinds of ways. The flash of desire played havoc with his self-control.

Dorian made noises at even the slightest move from Bull and every sound only spurred Bull on, encouraging him to thrust harder and faster just to draw out more noises. He gripped Dorian’s cock with one hand, the other still on Dorian’s back, keeping him pressed down. Dorian was leaking onto the already-stained bed, and keened at the touch.

“Bull,” Dorian pleaded, “I need- Fuck.” A particularly hard snap of Bull’s hips had him groaning as he was pushed along the sheets.

“Talk to me, Dorian, tell me what you need.”

“You fingers, something, in my mouth. I need to suck on something, please.” Dorian panted out, between gasps.

“Not sure I’ll be able to manage that and keep stroking you,” Bull warned, pausing his thrusts to grind deep into Dorian instead. He might be able to manage it, but it would throw his balance off enough that keeping up any kind of hard pace would be impossible.

“I don’t care, I’ll touch myself, please.”

Bull jerked his hips in an ungraceful motion at that, he couldn’t help himself. It was easy to move the hand from Dorian’s back to beside his head, resting his weight on it, offering up two of his fingers from his other hand to Dorian, who sucked them quickly into his mouth, eyes rolling up.

Fuck, Bull thought, this man must love giving blowjobs.

As he has said, Dorian grabbed his own cock with one hand, letting how each of Bull’s hard thrusts jolted his hips, push his cock into his waiting fist.

“Letting me do all the work,” Bull grumbled without heat. Dorian sucked particularly hard on Bull’s fingers in response.

It didn’t take long for Dorian to reach his limit again, spending over his hand and bed with a muffled cry around Bull’s fingers. Selfishly, Bull wanted to keep fucking Dorian’s ass until his completion, but after a second orgasm, Dorian would be too sensitive to enjoy that. He pulled out, shifting his hand back to Dorian’s back, and pulling his other from Dorian’s mouth, ignoring his whine of protest to grip his cock and bring himself over the edge, come splattering across Dorian’s arse.

He collapsed down beside Dorian, panting just as heavily as Dorian was.

“Damn,” he said. Dorian made a noise that sounded like agreement.

Dorian made a weak effort to move closer to Bull, who took pity on him and dragged him into a loose cuddle. Bull was always happy to doze for a while.

\---

Bull got up only when his stomach demanded it and Dorian frowned ever so slightly, expression left open and easy to read following sex. Bull kissed him before his scowl could worsen.

“I didn’t have lunch, and you’re hungry work. I’m going to grab my phone and order us a pizza. That work for you?”

“That sounds wonderful, actually,” Dorian said.

Bull beamed. “What do you like on yours?”

“Just cheese.”

“Weirdo,” Bull muttered, but did as he was asked.

The girl with the pizza gave him a knowing look when he answered the door, in just his jeans, still smelling of sex, and he tipped her well after giving her a sheepish shrug.

\---

Bull watched Dorian eat in horror.

“Shut up,” Dorian mumbled.

“It was nice while it lasted, but I think this might be more than I can handle,” Bull said, throwing an arm around Dorian’s shoulder.

“Shut up.”

Dorian was eating his pizza with a knife and fork.

“If you get sauce on my sheets you will have to replace them,” Dorian reminded Bull. It was unlikely however, Bull having the box resting on his legs, Dorian lounging against his side.

“They already have other stains on them,” Bull pointed out, eyeing up a come-stain.

“Yes, well, that was at least a joint effort.” Dorian went the most lovely shade of pink across his nose when he was embarrassed. Bull pushed the box and the remaining pizza onto the floor. He dragged Dorian into a close hug, pressing a kiss to the offending bridge of Dorian’s nose.

Dorian tried to defend himself with a poke in Bull’s side. Bull was not ticklish, but it turned out Dorian was. Very.

\---

“I’ll come pick you up after I’m done with work?” Bull sent, finally back at his own flat. He was going to be riding the high for days.

He realised with a jolt that he didn’t want to wait days to see Dorian again.

A text from the ‘Vint in question shook Bull from his thoughts. “Yes, but I do maintain that it’s my turn to pay.”

“Eh, next time. ],)”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Dorian replied. Once again, Bull’s mind did the heavy lifting, supplying all sorts of mental imagery.

“Sounds kinky.” Bull offered back, smiling to himself.

Yeah, waiting days wasn’t going to happen.

“Good night, Bull.”

“Night, Dorian. See you tomorrow. Xx”


End file.
